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(Left to right) Chris Hazzard MP, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O'Neill, Sinead Ennis MLA, and Pat Sheehan MLA, during the launch of the party's reform proposals at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, June 1, 2026
SINN FEIN has proposed a huge shake-up in the power-sharing arrangements at Stormont.
Among the proposals published on Monday, the republican party said it was time to end “vetoes” within the arrangements by changing how the first and deputy first ministers can take up their roles.
Sinn Fein has long accused the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of blocking progress on key policies.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill said her party’s plans aimed to removed the “ever-present threat of collapse” of the Northern Ireland Assembly and to ensure stability in the future.
At present, if the largest party within nationalism or unionism in Northern Ireland refuses to nominate a first and deputy first minister, an executive cannot be formed.
Sinn Fein says that, in future, if either of those parties chooses not to nominate, the opportunity should pass to other parties.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said he wanted to see “reform of the heart” by some members of the assembly.
“The structures, the procedures, the institutions don’t matter if someone is coming at things with the wrong approach,” he claimed.
A new group within the NEU is preparing the labour movement for a conversation on Irish unity by arguing that true liberation must be rooted in working-class solidarity and anti-sectarianism, writes ROBERT POOLE
The independent TD’s campaign has put important issues like Irish reunification and military neutrality at the heart of the political conversation, argues SEAN MacBRADAIGH
